Cheung Kong Infrastructure is working with UBS AG on a
possible offer, the person said, asking not to be identified as
the deliberations are confidential. Fortum said in January that
it was considering selling its electricity distribution
businesses in the Nordic region to focus on power generation.

Li has used his companies including Cheung Kong
Infrastructure to pursue acquisitions of water utilities and
waste management firms in Europe, seeking government-regulated
returns, as Hong Kong’s economic growth cools. The 85-year-old
tycoon is also spinning off the city’s second-largest power
supplier in a deal that may bring in as much as $5 billion,
people with knowledge of the matter said in September.

Fortum said it planned to complete the review of the
electricity units in Finland, Sweden and Norway by the end of
the year. Revenue from the combined assets totaled 1 billion
euros ($1.35 billion) in the 12 months through September 2012,
with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization of 466 million euros, according to a statement in
January.

Wendy Tong Barnes, a spokeswoman for Cheung Kong
Infrastructure, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment
today. The Wall Street Journal, which reported on the company’s
interest earlier today, said the Finnish assets could be worth
more than $2 billion.